Many personal, server, and notebook computer users see the hard disk as the most important and valuable part of their computer. This is especially true if the users have never made a data backup and their hard disk contains all of their work for an extended period of time. Hard disks are utilized to store important and confidential information and are often not secured sufficiently to prevent access to valuable data if the disk is stolen and/or removed from its original computer environment.
Unlike desktop and server computers, notebook computers are more susceptible to theft. Once taken, the hard disk drive unit may be removed from the stolen computer and installed in a different computer, thereby granting unauthorized access to confidential and valuable data. Similarly, because server computers accumulate and store valuable information for the client base served, unauthorized access by hackers or some other means could be disastrous for a business or non-profit entity that depend on the confidential nature of their data to operate.
Unauthorized access may be prevented on drives equipped with a security mode feature set that supports restriction of access to the data on the hard drive. Protocols for the security mode feature set or security features are generally described in the 1321D AT Attachment-5 with Packet Interface (“ATA/ATAPI-5”) specification. However, some users prefer different ways of implementing the specification based on their security needs. For instance, some customers or consumers may desire limited access to a locked drive during runtime whereas others desire a complete isolation of access to a locked drive. As another example, customers may desire to use various password features depending on the nature of the data stored on the hard drive. For instance, some customers may desire automatic password retrieval when returning from a sleep state, whereas others may desire a manual input of the password every time the drive loses power.
It is with respect to these considerations and others that the various embodiments of the present invention have been made.